Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Haitian rap mogul murder-for-hire trial under way

When James Rosemond, aka Jimmy Henchman, was out on the street, he was living two lives. As James Rosemond he was a well-respected music industry executive who worked with popular artists like Brandy, Salt-n-Pepa, Sean Kingston, the Game and Akon.

As Jimmy Henchman, he was a well-respected gangster whose beef with rapper 50 Cent's G-Unit crew lead to Rosemond allegedly orchestrating a hit against G-Unit associate Lowell Fletcher in 2009 for slapping Rosemond's 14-year-old son.

"In the public eye and on the surface, Rosemond was known as an executive in the music industry," Assistant U.S. Attorney Samson Enzer said during opening statements in Manhattan Federal Court, New York's Daily News reports. "But beneath the surface, Rosemond was known as a ruthless criminal who ran his rap business like a street gang."

On Monday, the murder-for-hire trial of Rosemond, 49—who is currently serving a life sentence for masterminding a massive drug enterprise—got under way.